Don't be a Lib, Ride and Shoot

Love riding.

Scorn Libs.

Shoot.

That is all.

LSP

Don't Let Kids Touch Guns!

Don't let kids touch guns like they're toys, because if they do, someone's likely to get hurt. No, teach them to shoot, instead.

And that's what we did after Mass on Sunday. Blue Ballistics came to the range too, and got progressively more excited until he had to be tied to a post.

The boys shot well, mostly off-hand at 50 yards, unleashing the power of a couple of battle rifles against several silhouettes. 

They were also reminded of the principles of marksmanship, gun safety, and range discipline. Finger off the trigger, safety on, muzzle down range. Do not shoot until you get the command, etc.

After blasting away we drove to Dallas, for steak. Tasty as you like and then some. So a good day was had by all, although when a young 'un attempted a sleight of hand over a game of Canasta, his Grandmother threatened, "You better behave, or we'll chain you to the Obama tree!"

Quite a threat,

LSP

Get Out And Shoot

Some people think that Texas is quite hot in August and perhaps it is, but that doesn't mean you can't go out and shoot, which is what we did.

There was skeet.

And more skeet.

And then some more.

Until the shotgun needed some surgery. Gun fixed, we shot some more of the clay opposition, then turned to the ARs and blasted away.

Green terrs down, the shoot concluded with a bit of pistol action, and that was fun too.

So don't be a pathetic lib, get out and shoot, even if it is 150 degrees in the shade.

Congrats to the kids, they shot like champs.

Gun rights,

LSP

Fort Worth, Leader of the Pack?

I've been at the International Congress of Catholic Anglicans in Fort worth (ICCA). What was it like? Here's a quote from Balaam's Ass (BA):

“We’re gathered at a time of crisis and because of a crisis. We stand for the Faith and Order of the undivided Church, yet we have a proliferation of jurisdictions. The overriding purpose, the imperative of our meeting, is to address our ecclesial deficit.”

BA continued, “In doing so, and when we’re done, would to God that Betjeman’s words might be extended to this Anglo-Catholic Congress: ‘Those were the waking days, when Faith was taught and fanned to a golden blaze.”

You can read the whole thing here and while you're at it, ponder the unholy alliance between Planned Moloch and our new SCOTUS inspired Rainbow Utopia.

In the meanwhile, Fort Worth? Ahead of the pack.

LSP

Start Young

I think it's important to start them off young, so I took two recruits out to the range today for a spin on the ARs and pistols.

Seriously Loading

They shot well, which made me proud, and now they're walking Blue Armageddon, who successfully managed to kill a small chicken yesterday.

Shoot!

I've turned the diminutive bird into poppers, much to the fascination of the youngsters. "How did you learn to do that?" they asked, wonderingly. "Ah hah!" I replied, with great wisdom.

We'll eat those poppers in a bit.

Cheers,

LSP

Juke Box Sunday

Part of the ethos behind this family blog is firearms, or guns. And I'm in an AR phase right now; I like the little gas-driven heaters. But some people think they lack knock-down stopping power, and they call these deadly assault rifles "poodle guns."

With that in mind, I wouldn't mind something a bit heavier. Like an M14. Some of you might think this rifle passed out of use, services no longer required. Think again and check out LL's post on the M14 and its enhanced SEAL variant.

When we ride on Austin and hook West to take out Burning Man and San Francisco, there'll be a few EBRs in the mix. And Drones. Obviously.

Shoot straight,

LSP

Fun Guns in Waco, Texas

I know. You should be patient in firearms acquisition. Don't rush into things. But I didn't want to go through the hassle of a transfer and FFL fees to get an Aero Precision lower receiver. So I drove to Waco, where Fun Guns (which ones aren't?) promised stripped lowers, ready to go. 

The first thing you notice about Fun Guns is that they're playing Led Zep, the Stones, Blue Oyster Cult, Deep Purple and all kinds of '70s rock, which is alright by me. The next thing you see is your old pal, D, Waco's famous gunsmith, shut down by the Administration, behind the counter. D once told me that "the .303 is a shark gun." Right on.

Alright then, you look around the store, pick out what you want, and find yourself agreeably pleased by friendly, helpful, and generally young staff.

I bought a Spike's stripped lower, nothing wrong with that, and gave the completed background check form to the tattooed but efficient-seeming AR afficionado in charge. He phoned up the Feds and got into trouble with the birthplace part of the form. So he questioned:

"What's 'Oxford,' man?"

"It's like a city. In England."

"Yeah, I know, there's a few."

"Oxford, England. Not Oxford, Kansas, or wherever."

"Gotcha."

Check done, I complimented the store on its music policy, and learned that St. Patrick's Day meant listening to the Dropkick Murphys. Shipping up to Boston? On St. Pat's, for sure.

If you're in Waco and you want a welcoming place to visit, check out Fun Guns. They're alright.

Shoot on,

LSP

Get A Grip!

After Evening Prayer, I set up on the porch and got into some complex gunsmithing. That's right, I changed out the stock pistol grip on my deadly assault rifle, for a more deadly looking Mega Arms hogue grip.

See that little spring? Don't lose it.

It's not hard. Unscrew the old piece of plastic rubbish that comes with the gun. As you do, you'll see a small spring; that's the safety detent spring. Don't lose the spring or the detent. If you do, you'll feel like an idiot and your gun won't work.

Mega

When the old grip is off, sit back and enjoy the wonder of firearms for a moment, and the neat look of the Mega Grip. Meditation over, screw in the new grip, making sure that the detent spring is on the detent.

Illuminati Stooge Puppet

Check and see if the fire control group works. It does. Good job, you've done well, unlike Azealia Banks, who is an Illuminati stooge puppet of the New World Order.

Shoot straight,

LSP

Wildcat Awesome

I worked hard today, trying to turn the labyrinthine mendacity of the Episcopal Church's legal strategy, and tactics, into something that approached English. But in the back of my mind I was thinking of converting my existing 5.56 "upper" into something that shoots the hot-as-you-like 6.8 SPC. Why not?

Good question. A gun friend is already building me a Rainier upper receiver, and that'll shoot the 5.56 out of a good barrel. So why have another rifle in the same caliber when you can have something even better. What would it take?

A 6.8 barrel, (1:11) a 6.8 bolt, a mid-length handguard, and a magazine. Oh, and I'd want a new trigger. That's all. I have the other parts. And the result? 

Scorching awesomeness.

LL, who has probably forgotten more about shooting than I will ever know, can correct me if I'm wrong.

Don't Fear the Reaper,

LSP

Sunday Night at the Compound

Its a pretty regular Sunday evening here at the Compound, cleaning guns, listening to marching songs on the jukebox, and frying up steak and eggs on the grill.

Blue M4 doesn't care, all he thinks about is "eye relief," "doping the wind," and "MOA." And food. He ate a block of cheese the other day, which I'd left out on the counter to get to room temp. I was looking forward to that cheese.

You're getting dangerously close to the edge, my furry friend.

God bless,

LSP

Monday Shoot

Empowered by a box of rare-as-you-like .22LR I drove to the range for some iron sights, off-hand plinking. First things first, shoot the miniature Dr. Pepper cans off the butts. It's fun when they explode, obviously, and I had their measure at around 50-70 yards. Then the Old Adversary, a steel plate turkey, which got a right telling off at 100 yards. Take that, turkey, and I like being able to hear the round connect. Plink. 

The Range

Then it was time for some AR fun and I practiced three round groups at 30, 50, 75 and 100 yards. Shot well at 30, unsurprisingly, and not badly at 50 -- pretty much 9/10 ring with a couple of Xs. Things spread out a bit at 75 and more so at 100 yards, obviously have to work at that. But what's the point, apart from getting out in the country, enjoying firearms and improving marksmanship skills?

Spurious Random Weber Shot

Imagine you're scouting along a trail, maybe through brush or mesquite, perhaps along a creek or a treeline, and there, all of a sudden, is your target. Maybe it's a coyote, or a hog, or a rabbit, and you have to take the shot. There's no time to rest on a truck, or on some kind of bench, or get prone, or whatever, so you have to shoot, standing up, fast and accurate (enough).

What?

A lot of people can't do that, especially with with iron sights (what if your scope breaks, eh?) and I think that's a mistake; surely it's part of basic skill-at-arms, and let's not forget, very satisfying to see the quarry go down. Not that I'm a particularly great shot or hunter, but still.

Shoot on,

LSP

Ranching

Children of the Sun

This small "kebob stand on the information superhighway" (thx. MCP) is supposed to be about country life in Texas, among other things. Part of that means ranching, or in my case visiting them. I had an invite to one the other day -- just a whole lot of fun driving around on an area about a third of the size of the Isle of Wight. Perhaps because of the red soil and the light it reminded me of Africa. Beautiful. The illusion was made all the better by various "Boks" and assorted exotics.

Where's Karen Blixen?

But did you shoot any hogs, LSP? I hear you ask. Well, I tried. The ranch foreman kindly drove our small shooting party around in a sturdy 4x4 and put us on top of a small herd of swine moving through the brush. Embarrassingly, no one scored. I'll spare you the details. That catastrophe occurred after an evening's walkabout for small game. We went out with shotguns and a 22 in search of rabbits and squirrels, but there weren't any. 

Shoot the Pig

There were, however, around twelve hogs crossing our trail at around 30 yards. There they ambled, just taking it easy on their way to destroy something. And there we were, pathetically undergunned. The porcine menace passed calmly towards whatever mayhem they had planned, unscathed. To cap it off, I went for a stroll with a friend's dog on our last day. Just moving down a fence line with a river and bluffs on my left, dog going ahead; I wasn't expecting anything but took an AR along just in case there was some action. Sure enough, there was!

Ford

About 20 minutes into my armed incursion into hogspace there was some squealing, down by the river, as it were. And there, about 150 yards off, was a big pig. Maybe it caught wind of the dog, or me. Whatever, up went the AR, squeeze went the finger and... nothing! The safety was on. Off it went and my next shot echoed out, but no good. The hog was in full gallop and I missed by a couple of feet. Grrrr. That annoyed me; I know better than that. Safety off, shoot, safety on. 2nd nature, or at least it was... Next time.

Typical LSP Hunt

Then all too soon it was back to the compound, which seemed strangely industrial (which it isn't) after the wilderness.

Remember, kids, release the safety catch on your weapon when you try to shoot something.

Cheers,

LSP

I Stand With Phil

Clean the Weapon

I stand with Phil against the gay steamroller, so I signed the petition and went for a shoot after taking Communion to the sick.

istandwithphil.com

Just me, a gas gun, a .45, cheap steel-cased Tulammo and some green silhouettes. Word to the wise:

A lot of people, including me, have had trouble with Tulammo and semi-autos, like the AR or Mini 14. You're firing away at the opposition when, thunk, there's a failure to eject and that's no good. I've found this doesn't happen if the chamber is clean and well-oiled, so take the time to clean and oil the chamber, right before you shoot cheap steel-cased ammo and there shouldn't be a problem. Common sense, I know, but still.

Get in the X Ring

I haven't had the same issue with brass, perhaps steel's more prone to sticking in the filthy beast that is the AR?

Shoot straight,

LSP

Ice Storm Mayhem. Day 2

There you go, shoot the ice off the Weber

This town is in the grip of Day Two of Winter Storm 2013, as ice-blind, directionless gangs of migrant farm workers run through the streets, looting, burning, cock fighting and gambling. Just to keep warm.

Just in case

Others are inside, cleaning guns, loading magazines, inventorying food supplies, and throwing last year's broken furniture on the fire.

It's all fun and games till the grid goes down, my friend.

I stand ready to bury the dead.

Forewarned is Forearmed.

That is all.